Machine for mixing and preparing plastic material.



No. 644,8I0. APatented Mar. 6, |900.

P. L. svLvEsTEn.

MACHINE FOR MIXING AND PRPARING PLASTIC MATERIAL.

(Application led Sept. 16, 1899.1 (No Modem Y 4 Sheets-Sheet I.

www l I III l mno No. 644,8I0.

Patented Mar. 6, |900. P. L. SYLVESTER.

MACHINE FUR MIXING AND PREPARING PLASTIC MATERIAL. (Application medsept. '16, 1899.,

(No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 6, |9004.

No. 644,8I0.

P. L. SYLVESTER.

MACHINE FUR MIXlNG AND PREPARING PLASTIC MATERIAL.

(Application filed Sept. 16, 1B99.|

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

No. 644,8I0. Patented Mar. 6, 1900.

P. L. SYLVESTER.

MACHINE FOR MIXING AND PIEPAIINI?` PLASTIC MATERIAL.

(Application filed Sep't. 16, 189S.r

(Np Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4,

@WWIIWHM the plastic mass is first thoroughly mixed and 3 arelongitudinal sections through the same, illustrating the operation ofthe apparatus.

. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the scoringbecomes hardened atordinary temperatures,

VSTATES;

PHILIP L. SYLVESTER, OF SCRANION, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR MIXING AND PREPARING PLASTIC MATERIAL..

SPECIFICATION forming part o'f Letters Patent No. 644,810, dated March6, 1900. Application ined september 16,1899. serai No. 730,698. (N0man.)

To if/ZZ wiz/0m it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP L. Srnvnsrna, a citizen of the United States,residing at Scranton, in the county ofLaclrawanna and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMachines for Mixing and Preparing Plastic Material, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for mixing andpreparing material which is of a plastic nature when heated and such asthe material from which composition buttons and other similar articlesare made; and it comprises a machine by means of which incorporated andthen laid out into sheet form and simultaneously marked off into squaresor sections of convenient size for subsequent manipulation without thenecessity of rehandling the mass.

By means of my improvements a large amount of manual labor which hasheretofore been considered necessary is dispensed with and the qualityand uniformity of the material are greatly improved by reason of theexpeditious manner in which it is handled.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1 isa perspective view of my improved machine. Figs. 2 and Fig. 4E is aperspective view of the front of the machine. Fig. 5 is a similar viewof the scraper-knife for removing the plastic material from themixing-rolls. Fig. 6 is a crosssection through the'scraper shown in Fig.5.

knife for dividing the material into blocks or sections. Fig. 8 showsone of the circular scoring-knives in side View and in section. Fig. 9is a perspective view of the pillowblocks in which the mixing-rolls arejournaled. Fig. 10 is a horizontal section through one of the endframes, showing the pillow-blocks in position; and Fig. 1l is a view ofthe inner side of one of the end frames, the mixingrollers beingindicated in dotted lilies.

Referring to the drawings, l and 2 indicate a pair of hollowsteam-heated mixing-rolls, which are adjustable toward and from eachother, one roll being arranged to travel faster than the other. As shownin the drawings, the rollers are supported by end frames 3 and e and areheated through steampi pes 5 and 6. The roller 2 is operated by means ofa driving-gear 7, secured at one end of its shaft, and at the oppositeend of said shaft a gear 8, meshing with a smaller gear 9 upon the shaftof the roller l, drives the latter at a speed proportionately greaterthan the speed of the roller 2.

The plan of providing steam-heated rollers adjustable toward and fromeach other and traveling at ditferent speeds for the purpose of mixingplastic material is well known in the art, and the novelty in this partof the present apparatus consists in the arrangement and construction ofthe bearings for the mixing-rolls, by which particles of the plasticmaterial which may drop from the rolls are prevented from getting intothe bearings when the rolls are moved apart, as will be hereinafterdescribed.

The operation of mixing the material is illustrated in Fig. 2, whereinlilindicates the batch of plastic material which is placed upon andbetween the rolls, and as the latter revolve toward each other a portionof the material (indicated by the reference-figure l1) adheres to thefaster-running roll l and is carried around thereby and reincorporated.with the massuntil the latter becomes a homogeneous mixture. Heretoforeafter the batch has been thoroughly mixed it has been customary toremove a portion at a time from the rolls and pass it throughindependent blanking-rolls for the purpose of running it off into sheetform, after which it was transferred to cooling-tables. This operationof rehandlin g the material besides entailing exe' IOO tion rst removedbeing more plastic than the last portion, which has been undulysubjected to heat and the mixing process.

In order to remove the material from the rolls without delay after ithas reached the proper stage in the mixing process, so as to insureuniformity in quality and to form it into sheets and simultaneouslyscore said sheets, so that it may be broken into small squares afterbecoming cooled and hardened, I provide a series of cooperating devices,including an endless belt 12, which is horizontally arranged beneath themixing-rolls and passes around rollers 13 and. 14, arranged at oppositeends of a long belt-frame 15, said frame being provided with smallrollers 16, upon which the intermediate portion of the belt issupported.

As shown in the drawings, the roller 13, which is the driving-roller forthe belt, is secured to a shaft 17, mounted in suitable bearings 18 uponthe front of the end frames of the machine. The shaft 17 extendsoutwardly beyond the end frame 3 and carries a loosely-mountedsprocket-wheel 19, which is connected by a chain 2O to a sprocketwheel21, secured upon the shaft of the faster-running roll 1. A clutch 22,splined to the shaft 17 and operated by a lever 23, is adapted to engagea clutch member upon the sprocket-wheel 19, so that the roller 13 of thetraveling belt may be set in motion or stopped at will by the movementof said lever. The size of the roller 13 and the relative sizes ofsprockets 19 and 21 are such that the speed of the belt when in motionwill be equal to the peripheral speed of the mixing-roller 1.

Upon the end frames in front of the mixing-roller 1, I arrange anartificially-cooled scraper-knife 24, which is pivotallysupported bymeans of ears 25, so that its sharpened edge 26 may be swung intocontact with the roller 1, as indicated in Fig. 3, whereby the plasticmaterial may be scraped 'from said roller and deposited upon the belt,which is previously set in motion by throwing over the clutch-lever 23.The scraper-knife, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, is provided with channels27 and 28, which extend from end to end of the scraper and through whichcold water is continuously passed while in usein order to keep thescraper cool and prevent the plastic material from adhering to it, theliquid being .carried to and from the channels by means of iexible pipes29 and 30. The scraper is provided with a handle 31, by means of whichi; may be readily swung on its pivotal points into and out of contactwith the mixing-roll. This artiiicially-chilled knife for removing theheated plastic material from the rolls is an important feature of myinvention, as the material will not adhere to the cold surface andimmediately falls to the belt below. As the belt and the mixing-roll 1travel at the same speed,the plastic material will be carried out uponthe belt in a sheetof uniform thickness. The length of the belt is suchthat an entire batch of material may be run off upon its upper surface.As soon as the material is deposited upon the belt the clutch 22 isthrown out of engagement with the sprocketwheel 19, thereby stopping themovement of the belt.

In order to score the material While in sheet form and in its plasticstate, so that it may after hardening be broken into sections of a sizeconvenient for subsequent manipulation, I provide a scoring-knife (shownin detail in Figs. 7 and 8) consisting of a series of disk blades 35,mounted at convenient distances apart upon a shaft 36 and having settransversely into their peripheries a series of blades 37, arrangedequidistantly apart. The shaft 36 is mounted to turn in the ends of arms38 and 39, which are arranged at opposite sides of the frame 15, saidarms being secured to a rod 40, which is pivoted in the frame andextends through from side to side ofthe machine. The scoring-knife maybe raised and .lowered by means of a handle 41, connected with the arm39. By raising said handle the scoring-knife may be lowered almost intocontact with the belt, as shown in Fig. 3, so that when the plasticmaterial passes beneath the knife the latter will be set in motionthereby and the disks 35 will scorethe material longitudinally, whilethe transverse blades will score it transversely, thus marking the sheetoff into rectangular sections 42, as shown in Fig. 1. After thematerialhas thus been runoff into sheet form and scored it is allowed tocool upon the belt, after which it may be broken along the scored linesand removed.

The time required for cooling in general is about equal to the timerequired for mixing another batch, so that the machine may be usedcontinuously, one batch being mixed while the other is cooling.

In order to catch any particles of the plastic material which may dropthrough between the rolls while the mixing process is going on, Iprovide a pan 32, which is supported upon wheels traveling upon tracksor ways 33, arranged upon the upper side of the frame 15. During themixing process the pan is placed under the rolls, as shown in Fig. 2, tocatch any material which may drop from the rolls. During the operationof scraping the material from the rolls and depositingit upon the beltthe pan 32 may be moved backward out of the way, as shown in Fig. 3.

The arrangement for raising the scoringknife permits the pan 32 to bemoved backward and forward along the tracks without interference fromsaid knife.

For the purpose of confining the plastic material to the rolls duringthe mixing operation I provide guards 43, which are secured to the endframes by means of brackets 44. The lower edges 45 of these guardsextend downward between the rolls and the end frames, as illustrated inFig. 11, and the upper portions of the guards projectover the ends ofthe rollers, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the projecting portions of theguards being reversely curved, as shown at 46, so as to conform to thecurvature of the rolls. The sides of the guards are tapered or rounding,as shown at 47, so that any material which may IOO IIO

find its way out onto the ends of the rolls will be forced back uponcoming in contact with the tapering sides.

The rollers are adjustable relatively to each other in order to vary thedistances between them during the mixing process. For this purpose theroller 2 is mounted in bearings 48, which are ajustable by means ofsetscrews 49, extending through the end frames, while the roller l ismounted in stationary bearings 50. The maximum distance between therollers during the process of mixing does not exceed the length of oneof the teeth upon the gears 8 and 9, so that the teeth of said gearswill always mesh with each other. The bearings are arranged inhorizontal guideways 5l in the endv frames. It will be seen that whenthe bearing 48 is moved outward, so as to separate the rolls, a spacewill be left between the roll 2 and the curved shoulders 46 of theguards. This separation of the roll from the curved shoulder permitssmall particles of plastic material to adhere to the outer ends of therolls and eventually to work off over said ends. In order to preventthese particles from gettinginto the oilchambers 52, the journal-blocks48 and 50 are provided with overlapping flanges 53 and 54, respectively,which are of the same height as the guideway in which said blocks aresupported, and these flanges effectually prevent the material frompassing through tothe oilchambers. These overlapping anges are formedwith beveled ends 55, so that any plastic material which may fall on andadhere to the flanges will be sheared off by said beveled ends when thebearings are moved by means of the set-screws.

I-Iaving described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is-- l. In a machine for mixing andpreparing plastic material, the combination with the heated mixing-rollshaving different peripheral speeds, of a conveyer-belt below said rollsarranged to travel at approximately the same speed as the periphery ofthe faster-running roll, and an artificially-cooled scraper movabletoward and from the face of said roll.

2. In a machine for mixing and preparing plastic material, thecombination with the heated mixing-rolls having different peripheralspeeds, of a cold scraper adapted to scrape the material from thefaster-running roll, and a conveyer arranged to receive the materialscraped from said roll and to carry it off in sheet form.

3. In a machine for mixing and preparing plastic material, thecombination with the mixing rolls having different peripheral speeds, ofa scrapenknife adapted to scrape the material from the faster-runningroll, a conveyer below said rolls arranged to travel at approximatelythe same speed as the fasterrunning roll, and means for stopping andstarting said conveyer.

the periphery of the faster-running roll and adapted to receive thematerial scraped from said roll, and a scoring-knife arranged to scorethe material as it passes along on the belt.

5. In a machine for-mixing and preparing plastic material, thecombination with the heated mixing-rolls having different peripheralspeeds, of a scraper adapted to scrape the plastic material from thefaster-running roll, a conveyer-belt below said rolls arranged to travelat approximately the same speed as the periphery of the faster-runningroll and adapted to receive the material scraped from said roll, and ascoring-knife journaled above the belt and consisting of a series ofdisks and one or more bars arranged transversely to said disks.

6. In a machine for mixing and preparing plastic material, thecombination with the mixing-rolls and the scraper of the belt-framebelow and extending rearwardly from said rolls, the conveyer-beltextending over said frame, the scoring-knife adjustable toward and fromsaid belt, and the pan or receptacle movable upon ways longitudinally ofsaid frame, substantially as described.

7. In a machine for mixing and preparing plastic material, thecombination with the mixing-frolls, of the conveyer-belt beneath saidrolls, the driving-roller for said belt se; cured to a suitable shaft, asprocketwheel or gear loosely mounted on said shaft and geared to theshaft of one of said mixing-rolls, and a clutch for connecting saidwheel or gear to its shaft.

8. In a machine for mixing and preparing plastic material, thecombination with the mixing-rolls having dierent4 peripheral speeds, ofa scraper-knife movable toward and from the face of the faster-runningroll and having passage ways therein through which a cooling Huid may bepassed, as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In a machine for mixing and preparing plastic material, thecombination with the mixing-rolls, of the end frames having guidewaystherein, bearings for said rolls located within the guideways and havingoverlapping flanges the ends of which are beveled or sharpened, thebearings of one of said rolls being adjustable toward and from thebearings of the other roll.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PHILIP L. SYLVESTER.

Witnesses:

ROBERT WATSON, CHAs. R. OONNELL.

IIO

